


Lost and Found

by silveradept



Category: The Tea Dragon Society (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multi, Soulmate Marks Written On the Wrist, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates Herded By An Angry Goose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 17:29:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20450867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/pseuds/silveradept
Summary: Greta is impatient to find her soulmate and get her name written on her wrist. The people around her suggest patience. Before long, a more interesting mystery presents itself for Greta to figure out.





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elleth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elleth/gifts).

"Mama," Greta asked, standing at the forge, "why don't I have a name on my wrist?"

"You're not old enough for it, my dear." Greta's mother was glad she had her back to her daughter. She hadn't been expecting Greta to ask about the markings for a while, but ever since she'd met Minette, it seemed like Greta was ever more curious about love, romance, and the names that appeared on the wrist that proclaimed who your soul mates were.

"I _am_ old enough," Greta insisted. "You told Dad I was all grown up when we celebrated my birthday this year!"

Greta's mother motioned to one of the hammers near the anvil. Sighing, Greta picked up the tool and beat some of her frustrations into the red hot steel her mother laid on the horn.

"Thank you," Greta's mother said, returning the steel to the forge. "Sometimes, when we say 'old', we mean 'wise'."

"Like not asking in public why your soulmate name isn't Dad's?"

"Yes, like that." Greta's mother had never been shy about showing her soulmate mark, especially on the forge. Her daughter had taken this familiarity as a sign that she didn't care that much about finding a soulmate. So she asked, in the middle of the marketplace, when she was very small, why Papa's name wasn't the one on her wrist.

Greta's father, bless him a thousand times over (or so her mother had said at the time), had called it an excellent question and said that some people didn't find their soulmates in their lives, and others, like her mama, found them, but only were able to be with them for a short amount of time.

Being perfect for each other didn't mean the relationship was going to be perfect, Greta's mother had told her.

"But I've met someone who I really, really like," Greta said. "Shouldn't that mean their name should show up on my wrist?"

"That's not how it works, Greta," her mother said, holding out the steel for Greta to hammer again.

"It doesn't make sense! Why don't we get to find out who our soulmates are immediately?"

"Would you prefer to be herded by an angry goose until you find who you were destined for?" Greta's mother asked mildly.

"Erik made it sound like a cool adventure. Apart from the biting. And being hit with the wings. So, not really all that cool at all, I guess."

"Why are you in such a hurry to get a soulmate, Greta?" her mother asked in between hammering.

"Because if Minette and I are soulmates, then I don't have to worry about whether she's going to disappear because she forgot how to get somewhere, or that she's going to remember everything and go back home, and I'll know who's going to take care of Ginseng with me."

"Erik and Hesekiel can do all of those things, too. Do you want them as soulmates, as well?"

"No! They're _already_ soulmates, Mama!" Greta said, as if stating the obvious. "I…I want someone to feel that way about me."

"You do not have to be soulmates to love each other," Greta's mother said, plunging the hot steel into a bucket of water and listening to the hiss. "That would be a terrible world to live in."

"Mmm," Greta said, nodding. Before she could say anything more, Ginseng came barreling into the forge, yelling her "visitors!" yell. Before Greta could ask, Chamomile and Minette poked their heads into the doorway.

Greta beamed at Minette. "Hi!" she called, waving.

"Are you busy?" Minette asked.

Greta looked at her mother, who nodded and made a dismissing gesture.

"I'm free," Greta said, exiting the forge. "What's going on?"

"I'm lost again," Minette said, blushing. "Could you help me get back to the other Tea Dragons?"

"Sure," Greta said. "Ginseng needs a walk, and it'll be nice to see Erik and Hesekiel again."

Minette set Chamomile down and wrapped Greta in a big hug.

"I'm so glad. It's so frightening to not know where you are," Minette said. "Chamomile led me here."

"She's a very smart dragon," Greta replied, returning Minette's hug.

"She knows how to get me somewhere safe when I'm lost," Minette said. 

Greta blushed a little at the thought of being "somewhere safe" for Minette.

Ginseng thought hugs were a fantastic idea and tried to do the same to Chamomile, who was not as enthused about receiving one as Greta had been.

"Ginseng!" Greta scolded. "Ask first."

Ginseng stopped snuggling Chamomile and looked at Greta quizzically before turning back to the other dragon.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Minette apologized, pulling her hands back. "I didn't ask."

"You can give me hugs when you want to," Greta said. "I don't mind." 

"Did I forget that?" Minette asked.

"N-no," Greta said, blushing again. "I just hadn't told you yet."

"Oh, okay." Minette smiled and hugged Greta again.

"You smell nice," Minette said. "Like fire and strength."

"Thank you," Greta replied automatically, not sure at all what to do but get hugged and hug Minette back. After some time, Minette released Greta from the hug.

"Okay," she said. "I'm ready to go back now." She picked Chamomile up in one hand and held the other out to Greta. "Would you hold my hand so I don't get lost again?"

"Sure!" Greta beamed, taking Minette's hand in hers. "Come on, Brick! Come on, Ginseng!" 

Greta smiled as she led them to the north, where the bridge leading out of town was. "If Chamomile can get you to the forge, if you can remember to look for the bridge, you can find your way back again."

"Aren't there other bridges?" Minette asked.

Greta nodded. "There's only one bridge you can see from the forge, though, and that's the right bridge."

"I'm not sure I would remember that," Minette said, frowning. 

"Chamomile could help with that," Greta pointed out. "Maybe another day, we can walk the entire route together so that Chamomile remembers the way?"

"That would be nice," Minette said. "I think I remember things better when you're around, too. Oh! There's the tea shop!"

Greta squeezed Minette's hand as they approached the shop.

"Hello!" Erik called from the back. 

"Welcome." Hesekiel said from behind the counter. "How are you doing today, Minette? Greta?" 

"I got lost again," Minette replied. "But Chamomile took me to Greta's forge, and Greta brought me home."

Hesekiel looked at the wrist Minette entwined with Greta's curiosly.

"Thank you, Greta," Hesekiel said evenly. "Erik and I are grateful that you look after Minette."

"Hi, Greta. Hey, Minette—that's new!" Erik said, pointing at Minette's wrist as he came into the shop. "Looks like someone's got a mark. Can we see?"

Minette brought her arm up shyly, not letting go of Greta's hand. Silver writing encircled her wrist. Erik looked at it intently.

"Nope, can't read it," he pronounced solemnly. "Ask Hese."

"I cannot, either," Hesekiel said, before Minette could show him. "I have not seen writing like this outside of some very old books."

"Is this something that I knew how to read when I as a seer?" Minette asked, looking at the silver on her wrist.

"That's not fair," Greta said, drawing everyone else's eyes. "Minette deserves to find her soulmate. Why would it show up in a way that nobody can read?"

"That is an excellent question," Hesekiel said. "I do not recall any situation where someone's soulmate mark was illegible."

"It's okay," Minette said quietly.

"It's not," Greta insisted. "You should know who it is."

"It's okay," Minette said, smiling. "If I found out who it was, would they be so nice to me about forgetting as you are?"

Greta opened her mouth to say something more, but yelped as Ginseng nipped her ankle.

"Feeding time," Erik said, looking for Rooibos and Jasmine. "Someone's hungry."

"Hungry," Greta said, looking down at her Tea Dragon with a suspicious eye. "Ginseng ate before Minette came to the forge."

"Our tea dragons are often older and wiser than we are," Hesekiel said, a trace of amusement in his voice. "But they are sometimes limited in the way they can communicate their wisdom."

Greta scooped Ginseng up from the floor, holding her firmly in one hand while gently pulling a leaf off her head.

"Maybe Chamomile can help Minette remember how to read her soulmate inscription," Greta said, examining the leaf in her hands. 

"Chamomile came to Minette after she lost her memory," Erik said. "Our dragons can only show what we've experienced and remember. So unless Minette has seen that kind of writing after she came to us, I'm afraid the tea won't help."

"It is a sound idea," Hesekiel said, seeing Greta's face fall. "Perhaps one day Minette will meet someone who can teach her what her mark says."

"Until then, you'll still stay with me, right, Greta?" Minette asked, stopping just short of begging.

"Of course I will," Greta said. "I still want to hang out with you and keep guiding you home until you know the way yourself and let Ginseng come over for play dates and make cute things for you at the forge and all the other things we're doing right now."

Minette beamed and hugged Greta. "I'm so glad. I thought that getting a soulmate meant you only could be with that person."

Erik and Hesekiel exchanged fond smiles, remembering times of their own that prompted those kids of confessions.

"That would be…distressing." Hesekiel said.

"I don't think Hese and I would have worked out nearly as well together if we didn't have friends we could talk to as well as each other." Erik added. "He does a lot, but it wouldn't be fair to expect him to take care of me all the time."

"It would not be fair to anyone. I would not want to imagine the kind of world where only those who are marked can care for each other."

"Oh, that reminds me," Greta said. "Erik, you were going to tell me about the soulmate goose. What was it like?"

"Shin guards," Erik said, laughing. "You could always tell who hadn't been herded yet, because they're wearing leg armor that comes up to their knees. Some of the more fashionable people wore their boots that high, and the knights just kept their greaves on all the time, but the rest of us had to make do with strapping padding to our legs and hoping we could see the goose in time to turn our best side to it."

"Did it help?"

"Not a bit. I'd show you the wound spots, but they healed up pretty nicely once they weren't being actively poked."

"Do you think tea dragons can lead people to their soulmates?" Minette asked.

"Many things lead people to their soulmates," Hesekiel said. "Sometimes they lead to friends or other relationships as well. Since we do not have angry geese attempting to herd us into our destined matches, I see no need to hurry. Are you staying for dinner, Greta?"

"Oh, no. I need to get back to the forge. Mama has a lot of work lately and she needs me to help as much as I can."

Minette set Chamomile down and ran over to hug Greta.

"Bye, Greta," Minette said. "Will you visit longer sometime soon? The garden is starting to bloom."

"I'd love to," Greta replied, hugging Minette in return. "Come on, Ginseng, time to go home."

Greta thought a lot on the way home.

"You look like someone who has done a lot of deep thinking," her mother said when she came back to the forge.

"Lots of thinking," Greta agreed.

"Will you share your thoughts with me?"

"I don't need a soulmate mark right now," Greta said, pulling on the heavy gloves and apron so she and Brick could more easily help.

"What brings this wisdom?"

"Well, Minette got her mark, but nobody can read it, not even Hesekiel. And he and Erik were saying that you can have all kinds of relationships and friendships without having to be soulmates and I think that I really like Minette and she likes me too."

"So even if you are not soulmates, then, you would still enjoy spending more time with Minette?" Greta's mother said, pulling a freshly-heated bar of steel out of the forge to be hammered. 

"Yup. I still want to be with Minette and help her with her memory. Even if it means I'm not her soulmate, I want to be her friend."

Greta struck the bar with purpose, letting her mother position the bar so she was hitting the place her mother wanted. 

"And maybe in time, you will become more than friends," Greta's mother said.

"Like you and dad?"

"Perhaps," she said, putting the iron back into the heat. "Perhaps more like you and Brick. Or Ginseng. We shall see."

"Yeah," Greta said. "I guess we'll see."


End file.
